Communication systems can transmit information over wired and/or wireless transmission media. Such transmission media is typically subject to noise, interference and distortion, each of which can introduce errors in the transmission of information. Communication systems can use protocols including error detecting algorithms (e.g., cyclic redundancy check) to determine if the received information is in error. Communications systems can also include protocols with retry mechanisms wherein the information received with errors can be re-transmitted.
A BER (bit error rate) represents one measurement of the transmission characteristics of communication systems. The BER can be represented by the ratio of the number of bit errors over the number of bits transmitted over a time period. Reduction of the BER can increase the bandwidth for the transmission of communication information through minimizing communication information retries and enabling higher bandwidth modulation formats. In some existing systems, a FEC (forward error correction) algorithm is used in an attempt to reduce the BER. A FEC algorithm can use error correcting codes that can be transmitted with communication information and can enable one or more receivers to reconstruct the communication information with errors introduced during transmission.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.